


Bloom and Grow

by CameoAmalthea



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AU, M/M, Naga, Romance, The Naga Saga
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-05
Updated: 2011-12-05
Packaged: 2017-10-26 23:28:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/289059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CameoAmalthea/pseuds/CameoAmalthea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bit of Passing On, from Axel's point of view. This won't make any sense unless you've read that fic.</p><p>This is a prize fic for wolf33441 On DA</p><p>She wanted "to see the moment that Axel figured out that he had non-platonic feelings for Roxas and how he reacted to that"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bloom and Grow

"And if I ordered you to kill it?" asked Sephiroth.

Axel knew there was only one answer to that question. It wasn't even a question really. It was a command, an ultimatum: if I order you to kill Roxas you will kill him, or I'll do it myself this very night.

That's what Sephiroth meant.

What could he say? Any argument would only give Sephiroth more reason to want Roxas dead. If Sephiroth knew Axel cared for the human he'd think Axel was blinded by his feelings. The only solution to that, in Sephiroth's mind, would be to get rid of Roxas for Axel's own good.

So Axel said what Sephiroth wanted to hear, and it wasn't a lie. He couldn't betray his people, or go back on his word to Sephiroth. To do so would be treason, he'd be banished!

How did things get so icky? Choosing between everything that mattered to him and the one person who mattered more than anything.  
How much did Roxas matter?

By all rights Axel should have killed Roxas as soon as he set eyes on him. When he first met the boy, he'd considered him prey. Naga knew how to kill as soon as they hatched; the instinct to lunge for anything small enough to get down was inborn. Not that Axel had ever been a mindless killer. Even as a hatchling he'd been selective in his kills, devouring any rats that strayed into the nest but never harming a feather on the heads of his chocobo nest mates. Maybe that's why he hadn't killed him. At first glance he'd thought the blond was a fledging bird.

Still, he'd realized his mistake soon enough when the boy darted out from the stall where he'd been hiding. His scent was mingled with the scent of chocobo, but he still smelled human, and delicious. His instincts told him to kill the boy, small and weak. Well, maybe not exactly weak. The boy had managed to grab a makeshift weapon, not that it did much good. Axel had him disarmed and in his coils almost immediately. That should have been the end of it.

Maybe it was because he begged and he started crying, or because Axel could feel the little guy shaking. So young and frightened, he needed someone to look after him. So it was pity that stayed his appetite, along with a since of duty. What would Zack have said if he saw him gobbling up the poor kid? Zack had saved his life once when he was just as helpless. Even if he couldn't repay Zack for adopting him by saving the boy Axel felt like he was paying the debt. Paying it by honoring Zack's memory and what he would have wanted. Paying it forward by sparing Roxas as Zack had spared him.

Axel had never been good at thinking too far ahead. He could plan well enough, he was smart, but he was a creature of impulse who lived in the moment. Save the little human, and then what?

Roxas had been so afraid Axel was just saving him for later. Axel just wanted him to feel safe. He couldn't stand the sight of Roxas cowering before him. The way he'd back up, eye wide with fear. The boys fear had faded soon, all it took was kindness and reassurance. Still, Axel hadn't known for sure if it was right to tell the boy he was safe, or how long it would last. Roxas cute the way that all young things are, like a puppy or a chick, but young things grow up and humans weren't to be trusted.

Axel knew that now, more than ever. Zack was dead, murdered by someone he thought was his friend.

All the same, Axel wasn't sure he could carry out Sephiroth's orders. He'd taken in Roxas five years ago, and treated him as a little brother. He cared for Roxas, as a friend, as family, as a pack mate, just as much as he cared for any other naga in his tribe, and maybe more. Roxas trusted him. Roxas needed him. Except, Roxas wasn't a child anymore, but a young man. He didn't need Axel; he wasn't a helpless lost youngling who needed someone to cling to. Yet those facts didn't change the way Axel felt about him, he still cared about him.

Even if Roxas's own kin had been the one to strike Zack down, it didn't matter. Axel didn't want to hurt him. He would never want that.

"Because you love me?" asked Roxas "But Axel, do you mean…like a lover? Axel I...I love you too, so much, but I want to know if you feel the same way."

The question surprised him. Like a lover? Roxas loved him like that?

Axel closed his eyes, deep in thought. Axel had known him as a kid, thought of him as a ward. Roxas had grown up since then, now Axel saw him as an equal. One of the pack. He loved him. There were no words for it other than just love. Axel didn't even know if a word was enough to mean all that he felt, because there were no words to express it.

Eyes open, Axel leaned in and pressed a kiss to Roxas's lips. It was gentle, and slow. He wasn't sure if this was right, but Roxas wanted this. For his part, Axel wanted to know how it felt. Roxas's eyes were so wide, and Axel could hear his heart beat like a footfalls of galloping chocobo, so fast and wild. Then Roxas closed his eyes, but did that mean it was all right?  
Axel pulled away. "Is that...okay?" he asked. Axel had never thought of Roxas like this before, never looked at him as a potential mate. Yes, in the past year or so he'd notice how Roxas had grown, but he'd never really looked at him like that. Never seen how beautiful he'd become.

"Wonderful," said Roxas. "I want you to kiss me. I want you period. Is that...okay? I know I'm human and younger...but I love you."

Axel loved him too. Maybe he'd been wrong before, Roxas growing up did change things. He still loved him, but just as Roxas had grown and changed so to had Axel's feelings for him. He loved him in every way possible way, and if Roxas wanted him, then he could love him that way too.

"Nothing about this is normal," he said. "I really want you, Rox. You're something special. You're mine, and I'm keeping you."

Axel had been caught off guard by Roxas's confession, but why question it? With everything else that had happened, learning how Zack died, that Roxas's brother was the one who killed him, and that Axel might be ordered to kill Roxas, finding out that Roxas loved him seemed simple in comparison. Axel had too much on his mind to think about it, so he didn't think, instead he just trusted his heart and gave Roxas what he wanted.

Axel kissed the boy again, deeper this time, a proper kiss, a lover's kiss. It felt right. He'd never known anything could feel this way. He'd never thought of Roxas he'd be this way with Roxas, but when Roxas said those things it was like he was seeing Roxas again for the first time. Love can grow and change, like a flower into fruit, it was different now, but it was sweeter. It was what was meant to be, no matter what anyone thought.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this fic is ok. In my mind Axel didn't realize he had feelings for Roxas until he realized Roxas had feelings for him. So while Roxas agonized for months over his feelings for Axel, Axel never really thought about it. Roxas was just Roxas, the person he loved and wanted to be around. Then when Roxas told him, Axel couldn't help but love him back.
> 
> I think my reasoning here is that I don't really like large age differences, especially when one of the partners is so young. It really squicks me in most cases, even though I don't think all such relationships are inherently wrong. So when writing this pairing, I couldn't see Axel lusting after Roxas, rather he just loved him and it was Roxas who initiated the change to a more physical relationship.


End file.
